Sports Leviathan columnist Nash selected for England Lions
Sports Leviathan’s cricket columnist Chris Nash was yesterday included in the 12 man England Lions squad to face Sri Lanka ‘A’ . This is Nash’s first inclusion in the squad regarded as an England ‘A’ team and is a small step towards his ultimate ambition of achieving full international honours.
Nash was previously included in the England Performance Programme (EPP) 2 years ago, however had to withdraw from the tour to South Africa with a broken thumb.
His selection this year, has come off the back of another very solid season in all competitions and it appears his form in the shorter format of the game is making the selectors sit up and take note. Yesterday against Yorkshire he vindicated his inclusion; in front of the sky cameras, Nashy starred with a Man of the Match performance scoring 79 with the bat and 1-35 off his 8 overs. Read More…
My Frank head set to push my heart off a Cliff
Today’s Sussex Stakes dubbed the ‘Duel on the Downs’ is quite literally a heavyweight title fight, however unlike boxing the two horses have been put forward for the showdown without shirking the challenge. The prancing pugilists would have Lord Queensbury turning in his grave if he saw Mayweather , Pacquaiao and Co choosing which excuse to turn to next to explain why they don’t want to challenge themselves against the best. Today the clash between Frankel and Canford Cliffs prevents all those ‘what if’ questions. Goldikova (one of Europe’s great milers) was cosily defeated by Canford Cliffs at Royal Ascot, Frankel is unbeaten in all starts and by many is called the ‘Freak’- therefore their meeting is both logical and necessary. It is a match up of champions and this is exactly what sport needs, the best taking on the best with only 1 party able to emerge victorious. Read More…
Sometimes it pays to follow the ‘rules’
Glorious Goodwood starts today and I must admit Goodwood is not a happy punting ground for me. Last year Richard Hannon and Richard Hughes dominated preceedings and this year I am at odds whether to follow them or oppose them…surely they can’t have as good a meeting as they did last year? Time will tell. Read More…
Chris Nash previews England’s chance of ousting India at the top of the Cricket tree
The upcoming series between England and India promises to be one of the best sporting events of the summer. A strong showing from england will push them to the top of the test rankings against the best side in the world. The coming years will prove to be a transitional time for the Indian team but the current crop of ageing yet exceptional batters will be keen to put in a strong showing on their last tour of England. Much has been said about Tendulkars desire for his 100th hundred at the home of cricket. Having lived his life with expectation and pressure he will handle it with ease and will have the desire to put personal milestones aside and would be content with a series win. The series could prove to be one of the final appearances of a batting unit widely considered as one of the best in the game. Gambhir, Sehwag, Laxman, Dravid, Tendulkar and Dhoni are all icons of the game and England will have to be at their best to beat them. If the batting unit fires the bowling mainstays Zaheer khan, Harbajan Singh and Ishant sharma will be very effective on english wickets, Khan especially with his experince of English conditions. I also predict that Praveen Kumar will play a key part, a skilful swing bowler should excel in helpful conditions and with runs on the board this Indian team look very strong. Read More…
Sports Leviathan has a ‘Hot Prospect’ at soggy Newbury today
With David Moncoutie coming second in yesterdays stage at around 33/1 as well as Sammy Sanchez’s win the day before Sports Leviathan’s Cycling wing looks to firing on all Cylinders. Todays stage is trickier to pick the winner as it is likely to come from one of the final selection seen chasing Sanchez home on Luiz Ardiden. The Schlecks, Contador, Evans, Sanchez, Cunego and Basso are all in the mix and I expect one of those to win. There aren’t many great prices knocking around but given how strong Frank Schleck looked the other day and the fact Basso and Evans will be most suited to the final part of the climb I suspect that may be the top 3. Evans and Basso are both about 10-1 and if I was to have a punt Evans could put a serious marker down by winning today and I would probably just shade him as favourite today – unless Sammy comes and spoils the party again, he is probably the most dynamic climber of the the lot. Whatever happens today is going to be a real cracker. Read More…
16/1 Sammy Sanchez storms home for Sports Leviathan
Off the back of some well judged predictions by Corinthian, Sammy Sanchez tipped up on this blog at 16/1, surged to victory on the top of Luiz Ardiden. The Olympic champion judged his attack to perfection, catching the breakaway and storming to victory in style. It is not often a rider of Sanchez’s class comes out and says this stage is the one I want to win. That is exactly what he did, always targeting stage 12 as the time he was going to attack and despite a fall on the descent of the Tourmalet he managed to dust himself off and illustrate he is the tours premier climber.
With Contador clearly not on peak form and the Schlecks continually playing cat and mouse, Evans, Cunego and Basso also look well in the running for podium places. But Sanchez, although not the best time trialist (nor the worst) will have a sneaky feeling that with a few more attacks like the one today he too may be able to improve on last years 4th place
The ever changing plot continues to thicken…
SL
Sore knees in the Pyrenees
Wiggins, VDB, Horner, Brajkovic, and Vino – Big names all out. Add to this other GC men such as Leipheimer, Kloden and Gesink who have been badly compromised and we are faced with an attritional, confusing Tour. Contador himself is complaining of sore knees and looking distinctly off colour when he has made the effort. So Evans is emerging as the strongman and perhaps the Schlecks can simply cruise onto the podium at this rate? In terms of challenging these three we must look to someone like Nico Roche stepping up or Sammy Sanchez proving to be in top form in the mountains. Read More…
Ruthless German to emulate enigmatic Spaniard at Sandwich
Before I begin with my Open preview I want to firstly commend a fantastic tribute to Seve on BBC1 last night. It was a superb overview encapsulating the character and emotion of Seve. I have made my views loud and clear on previous posts on how important a contribution he has made to the world of golf and the first Open without him alive will be poignant and sad for all concerned. Read More…
Crash, Bang, Wallop – What a video!
Whist I haven’t been driving barefoot to Dundee scoffing Toblerone, it has been an odd weekend for me on a sporting front and it seems injuries continue to plague my sporting selections. This, coupled with a bit of punting stupidity/rashness has contributed to the mixed bag of results of late. Read More…
French Fancies to shine in Le Tour
So we progress toward the second week of what is proving an intriguing and innovative route. The revamped intermediate sprint and uphill finishes have sparked the battle for the green jersey. Rojas looks really good and I fancy him to be wearing green inParis. This is a rider who has proven he can ride in the mountains better than nearly all the other sprinters, I think he can outlast the other contenders. Read More…
